"The game needs the optimized modes of interaction that people expect these days, especially when it comes to a game which is thoroughly focused on crafting, weapons, and armor. You need to be able to link things to the channel, see what they look like before you buy or craft, look at what people are wearing, and you need an Auction House to allow for asynchronous transfers of property. Of course I say that, it's true, and I hope it does well enough to warrant these investments. But I'm still playing it every night, because (unlike most genre entries) its basic gameplay is fun. It's an action game you play with other people against the environment. It has all the hooks a persistent game needs, but the fundamentals are there, which you'd think would be more common than it is. Somewhere between Phantasy Star Online and Secret of Mana is a weird game made by people who live in a submarine which is (for some reason!) one of the most interesting games this year."